Mental health myths may keep many veterans unemployed

9:37 PM,
Apr. 6, 2013

Bianca Pasternack helps U.S. Army veteran Adrian Anderson, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, at the Hiring Our Heroes job fair March 27 in New York. Some veterans say they face discrimination from employers who assume they have post-traumatic stress disorder.

Written by

Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY

Military leaders and veterans advocates worry about hiring discrimination against Iraq and Afghanistan war vets by employers who might see the veterans as emotionally damaged.

A key fear is how this could be contributing to stubbornly higher joblessness among the generation that volunteered to serve in the military after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Because employers are barred by law from asking job applicants about mental health conditions, many assume that any veteran can be afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although the vast majority returned from ...